JPH09155864A - Method and apparatus for cleaning resin pellet recycling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically clean the interior of a resin pellet recycling apparatus when a resin is altered. SOLUTION: A plurality of nozzles ANi, BNi, XNi are arranged in the resin passages of a virgin material treatment part 30 for weighing a virgin resin material, a waste material treatment part 40 for grinding and weighing a waste resin material and a mixing part 50 for mixing the virgin resin material and the ground waste resin material and compressed air is injected from the nozzles in the order from the upstream nozzle to the downstream nozzle to send out the resin bonded to the moving passages in the apparatus in a downward direction. Manual cleaning becomes unnecessary.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning method and a cleaning device for cleaning a resin pellet recycling device that performs a process for reusing resin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In resin molding such as injection molding, a large amount of waste materials such as spools and runners are generated in association with the molding, and the waste materials are reused. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-305614 describes a recycling device that reuses such waste materials. This recycling device is a crushing and weighing device that crushes waste materials such as spools and runners and measures the crushed crushed material, a virgin material measuring device that measures new virgin resin material, and a crushing material from the crushing and weighing device. A mixing tank for mixing the virgin material and the virgin material, and a heater and a blower for supplying heated air to the resin in the mixing tank to dry the resin. This recycling device stores a waste resin material and a virgin material in a mixed state, and dries the resin in the storage material so that the resin can be immediately reused.

[0003]

By the way, in the production of resin molded products, different resins are used. In this switching of the resin, it is necessary to remove the resin in the previous stage remaining or adhering to the inside of the recycling apparatus, and therefore the inside of the apparatus is cleaned. Also in the above-mentioned recycling apparatus, it is necessary to clean the inside when switching the resin. Such cleaning is performed manually, and when the device is complicated, cleaning requires a lot of labor. Further, depending on the cleaning portion, a part of the device may be disassembled, and the disassembling work and the assembling work after cleaning are troublesome, and there is a problem that an assembling error occurs at the time of assembling. .

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and by automatically cleaning the resin pellet recycling apparatus for reusing the resin, the labor is reduced and the disassembling work is unnecessary. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning method and a cleaning device to which this method can be applied.

[0005]

A cleaning method according to the present invention is provided with a virgin material processing section to which a resin virgin material is supplied and which measures the supplied virgin material, and a resin waste material generated by molding is crushed and measured. Of the resin in each of the processing units in the resin pellet recycling apparatus including a waste material processing unit for storing and a mixing processing unit that stores the virgin material from the virgin material processing unit and the crushed waste material from the waste material processing unit in a mixed state It is characterized in that compressed air is sequentially supplied from the upstream side to the downstream side of the passage.

In this method, compressed air is sequentially supplied from the upstream side to the downstream side of the resin moving passage in the waste material processing section, the virgin material processing section and the mixing processing section for recycling the resin. This compressed air is sprayed to remove the resin at the previous stage adhering to the above-mentioned respective parts from the upstream side, and successively conveys it to the downstream side. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually clean the inside of the device.

The cleaning device of the present invention is provided with a virgin material of resin, and a virgin material processing section for measuring the supplied virgin material, and a waste material processing section for crushing and measuring resin waste material generated by molding. In a resin pellet recycling apparatus including a mixing processing unit that stores the virgin material from the virgin material processing unit and the crushed waste material from the waste material processing unit by mixing, the resin pellet recycling apparatus is disposed at a plurality of portions of the resin moving passage in each processing unit. Nozzles, an air source for supplying compressed air to each nozzle, and a control so as to sequentially supply compressed air from the nozzles on the upstream side of the resin moving passage in each processing section to the nozzles on the downstream side. And a control device for controlling the operation.

In this apparatus, compressed air is supplied to each nozzle from an air source, and at the time of this supply, the control device sequentially switches to each processing section from the upstream side to the downstream side nozzle of the resin moving passage. Therefore, the inside of the device described above can be automatically cleaned.

In such a cleaning device, a collector for collecting the resin sent by the supply of compressed air can be provided at the end of the resin moving passage in the mixing processing section. As a result, the resin removed by the compressed air can be stored in the collector, so that the resin can be recycled and the recycling efficiency is improved.

[0010]

1 shows a resin pellet recycling apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. This resin pellet recycling apparatus includes a virgin material processing unit 30 that processes a resin virgin material, a waste material processing unit 40 that processes a resin waste material such as a spool or a gate generated by molding, and a virgin material. A mixing processing unit 50 for mixing the waste material with the waste material is provided.

The virgin material processing section 30 comprises a supply hopper 1 to which a resin virgin material is supplied, and a weighing machine 2 connected below the supply hopper 1. A pellet-shaped resin virgin material crushed to an appropriate particle size is charged into the supply hopper 1. The weighing machine 2 is a rotary type and weighs the pellet-shaped virgin material by bulk. Then, a predetermined amount of the virgin material weighed by the weighing machine 2 flows down in the communication pipe 13 and is introduced into the weighing machine 6 of the waste material processing unit 40 described later.

The waste material processing section 40 is a loading hopper 1 into which waste materials such as spools and runners generated by molding are loaded.
6, a crusher 3 connected below the input hopper 16, and a weighing machine 6 for weighing the waste material from the crusher 3. The crusher 3 crushes the waste material from the input hopper 16 into a predetermined particle size. To the lower part of the crusher 3, a container 4 for storing the crushed waste crushed material is connected. The weighing machine 6 is connected to the container 4.
The container 4 introduces the crushed waste material into the weighing machine 6, and a discharge pipe 5 is connected to the lower part of the container 4 in a downwardly inclined state. The discharge pipe 5 guides the overflowed waste material to the outside when the waste material contained in the container 4 becomes excessive.

Like the weighing machine 2 of the virgin material processing section 30, the weighing machine 6 is of a rotary type, and measures the waste material from the container 4 by its bulk. The mixing port 1 to which the communication pipe 13 of the virgin material processing unit 30 is connected to the weighing machine 6
7 is opened, and the virgin material passes from the mixing port 17 through the weighing machine 6 and flows down into the mixing tank 7.

The mixing port 17 and the mixing tank 7 described above constitute a mixing processing section 50. That is, communication pipe 1
The virgin material from 3 is introduced into the weighing machine 6 through the mixing port 17 and drops into the mixing tank 7, but the waste material weighed by the weighing machine 6 also drops into the mixing tank 7. During this free fall, the virgin material and the waste material are mixed, so that they are accommodated in the mixing tank 7 in a mixed state.

The mixing tank 7 is for supplying a mixture of a virgin material and a waste material to a hopper (not shown) of a molding machine, and a supply pipe 18 is connected to an outlet portion thereof, and a tip portion of the supply pipe 18 is connected. The transportation pipe 8 is connected in a branched state. In this case, a transportation valve 10 whose opening and closing is controlled by a control device 14 described later is attached to the hopper side of the molding machine in the transportation pipe 8.

Reference numeral 9 is a collecting pipe which is connected to the leading end of the supply pipe 8 together with the transport pipe 8 in a branched state. As will be described later, the collecting pipe 9 collects the resin carried by the compressed air when cleaning the inside of the apparatus with the compressed air, and the collector 12 for collecting the resin is connected to the tip portion. . In the collecting pipe 9 as well, a collecting valve 11 whose opening and closing is controlled by the control device 14 is provided.

In the resin pellet recycling apparatus having the above structure, all the resin moving passages of the virgin material treating section 30, the waste material treating section 40 and the mixing treating section 50 have nozzles for injecting compressed air to the respective passages. It is arranged. That is, in the virgin material processing unit 30, the nozzles AN are provided in the supply hopper 1, the weighing machine 2, the communication pipe 13, and other passages.
1, AN2, ..., ANi are provided. The nozzles are arranged in the order of AN1, AN2, ..., ANi from the upstream side to the downstream side.

Similarly, in the waste material processing section 40, the charging hopper 16, the crusher 3, the container 4, the weighing machine 6, the discharge pipe 5, and the nozzles BN1, BN2, ...
i is provided. Also in this nozzle, BN1,
BN2, ..., BNi are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side. Further, in the mixing processing unit 50, the nozzles XN1, XN2, ...
i is provided. The nozzles in the mixing processing unit 50 are XN1, XN2, ... Like the nozzles described above.
..., XNi are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side. Hereinafter, these nozzles AN1-ANi, BN1-
BNi and XN1-XNi are described as GN. The injection of compressed air from these nozzles GN is controlled by the controller 14.

FIG. 2 shows a control system for controlling the nozzle GN. Each nozzle AN1 to ANi, BN1 to BNi, XN1
To XNi (GN) solenoid valves AD1 to ADi, BD1
BDi, XD1 to XDi (hereinafter, electromagnetic valves are referred to as GD) are connected, and each nozzle is connected to the air source 20 via these electromagnetic valves GD. Further, each solenoid valve AD1 to ADi, BD1 to BDi, XD1 to XDi
Are timers AT1 to ATi, BT1 to BTi, XT1 to X
The opening and closing of Ti (hereinafter, the timer is referred to as GT) is controlled by being connected. And each timer G
T is controlled by the controller 14.

In this case, the control device 14 also controls so that the collecting valve 11 and the transport valve 10 are alternately opened and closed. In this case, the control device 14 switches between cleaning of the inside of the device and supply of resin to the molding machine, and switching is performed by operating the mode changeover switch 15.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of this embodiment, and the operation will be described below with reference to FIG. When the setup for switching the resin occurs during the normal operation, the mode changeover switch 15 is operated to enter the cleaning mode. As a result, the control device 14 causes the transport valve 10
Is closed while the collection valve 11 is opened. Following this,
The control device 14 uses the timer AT of each processing unit 30, 40, 50.
Turn on 1, BT1 and XT1. As a result, the corresponding solenoid valves AD1, BD1, XT1 are turned on and the air source 2
Compressed air from 0 is the most upstream nozzle AN1, BN
1, XN1 and compressed air is injected into the resin moving passages corresponding to these nozzles. By the injection of the compressed air, the resin adhering to the resin moving passage is removed, and the removed resin is sent to the downstream side together with the flow of the compressed air. The compressed air injection time is set by the timers AT1, BT1, and XT1.

Next, the timers AT1, BT1, XT1
Is turned off, AD1, BD1, and XT1 are turned off, whereby the injection of compressed air from the nozzles AN1, BN1, and XN1 is stopped. After that, compressed air is injected from the nozzles AN2, BN2, and XN2 on the downstream side of these nozzles. This downstream nozzle AN2, B
The injection of compressed air from N2 and XN2 is the same as above.
Timers AT2, BT2, and XT2 corresponding to each nozzle are O
When it becomes N, the solenoid valves AD2, BD2, XT2 are turned on.
Is done by becoming. This nozzle AN2, BN2, X
By the injection of the compressed air from N2, the resin adhering to the moving passage of each resin is removed, and it is sent to the further downstream side together with the flow of the compressed air.

Injection of compressed air from the above nozzles is performed in order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the resin moving passages of the processing units 30, 40 and 50. As a result, the resin in the moving passage is sent to the collector 12 and stored in the collector 12. And the most downstream nozzles ANi, BN
When the injection of the compressed air from i and XNi is completed, the cleaning of all the resin moving passages is completed. At this point, the controller 14 closes the collection valve 11 and
Open the transport valve 10. As a result, the cleaning mode is switched to the normal operation mode.

In such an embodiment, since the inside of the resin moving passage is automatically cleaned by the compressed air at the time of changing the resin, it is not necessary to manually clean the resin and labor can be reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to disassemble the recycling device, the work can be performed smoothly. Further, in this embodiment, there is an advantage that the resin stored in the collector 12 can be reused.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, the injection time of the compressed air from the nozzle may be controlled by a sequencer, a microcomputer, etc. without controlling by a timer. Further, instead of the electromagnetic valve, an electromagnetic switch, a shutter or the like may be used, and the collector 12 may be omitted.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the resin is changed, cleaning is performed by injecting compressed air sequentially from the upstream side to the downstream side of the resin moving passage in the resin pellet recycling apparatus. Therefore, manual cleaning is not required and labor can be reduced. Moreover, since it is not necessary to disassemble the resin pellet recycling apparatus, the work is simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a resin pellet recycling apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Supply Hopper 2 Weighing Machine 3 Crusher 4 Container 6 Metering Device 7 Mixing Tank 12 Collector 30 Virgin Material Processing Section 40 Waste Material Processing Section 50 Mixing Processing Section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A virgin material processing section for supplying a resin virgin material and measuring the supplied virgin material, a waste material processing section for crushing and measuring a resin waste material generated by molding, and the virgin material processing section. From the upstream side to the downstream side of the resin moving passage of each processing unit in the resin pellet recycling apparatus including a mixing processing unit that stores the virgin material from the waste material processing unit and the pulverized waste material from the waste material processing unit in a mixed state. A method for cleaning a resin pellet recycling apparatus, which comprises supplying air in sequence. 2. A virgin material processing unit to which a resin virgin material is supplied and which measures the supplied virgin material, a waste material processing unit which crushes and measures the resin waste material generated by molding, and the virgin material processing unit. In a resin pellet recycling apparatus comprising a virgin material from and a crushed waste material from a waste material processing section in a mixed state, and a nozzle disposed at a plurality of portions of a resin moving passage in each processing section, An air source for supplying compressed air to the respective nozzles, and a control device for controlling so as to sequentially supply the compressed air to the nozzles on the downstream side from the nozzles on the upstream side of the resin moving passage in each processing section. And a cleaning device for a resin pellet recycling device. 3. The resin pellet recycling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a collector for collecting the resin sent by the supply of the compressed air is provided at the end of the resin moving passage of the mixing processing section. Cleaning device.